Downtown stadium deal all but assured

Councilman Bill Rosendahl has been about the only city official to question the project, and even he seems to be coming on board. "We all want a football team. We all want a stadium. I mean, it's a no-brainer," Rosendahl said this morning during a committee hearing. We all want a stadium? Where did that come from? Oh well, opposition to the plan has been tentative and ill-defined from the start, and the AEG people are determined to bulldoze this thing through - despite obvious concerns about the city's role in financing. (Just curious: Has the city released a line-by-line analysis of the ancillary costs connected with this project - everything from infrastructure needs to the time being spent by city staffers? And where is that money coming from?) AEG head Tim Leiweke wants the city to commit to the plan by July 31 - even though final approval must await completion of an environmental impact report next year. From the City Maven:

"The point of this is not to get a football team," [said Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller]. "The point of this is to leverage a football team and a stadium to generate economic activity and to generate money we don't have today to fix a convention center that has to be fixed. We have to fix it one way or another." That said, Miller cautioned that the facts and figures reported by AEG may not be part of the final negotiated deal. The deal they propose in public (is) not necessarily the deal that (CAO) Miguel (Santana) and I will recommend to you," Miller said.

The one potential roadblock - financing bonds that will be used to construct a replacement of the West Hall - appears to have been resolved, with AEG revising its earlier offer. Instead of pushing the city for $350 million worth of bonds, AEG says the new figure will be in "the high 200s." That reduces L.A.'s potential exposure on the bonds.